


Ice Cream Is Cheaper Than Therapy

by cinnamonsummer



Category: Kirby (Video Games)
Genre: Enemies to Friends, Fix-It of Sorts, Gen, Platonic Female/Male Relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-04
Updated: 2019-02-04
Packaged: 2019-10-06 02:10:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,123
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17336708
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cinnamonsummer/pseuds/cinnamonsummer
Summary: She didn't come expecting forgiveness, but she did have ice cream.





	Ice Cream Is Cheaper Than Therapy

"I didn't know you liked ice cream."

Meta Knight raised his gaze from the weathered pages of the book he was absorbed in, only to find an unlikely pair of blue eyes staring down at him. Even more unlikely were the two ice cream cones in each of the pink-haired girl's hands. She held out one of the two cones without another word—specifically, the one heaped with chocolate soft-serve.

"Who told you?" Meta Knight asked tentatively, accepting the cone from her hand before he could reason with himself. Curse his sweet-tooth. "Thank you." Curse his manners.

"Pinky did," Susie replied, actually appearing apologetic. "I'm sorry." Meta Knight simply shook his head. They meant well, the poor soul, but Kirby was as blasé as ever.

"Mind if I sit here, anyway?"

"It is a free country," Meta Knight replied. "I don't eat in front of others, though."

"You don't have to," she said. Rather than sitting beside him, Susie took up the spot directly behind him so that they were back to back. "Because now I'm _behind_ you!"

Silence.

Susie let out a long-suffering sigh. "Not funny, huh? Just so we're clear, I'm not expecting you to forgive me and my, ah, _transgressions_ on this planet, Mr. Knight."

Meta Knight shook his head again. "I'm afraid I follow a strict code of justice, Miss Haltmann."

"But of course."

"However... I am no hypocrite."

Susie didn't quite understand the significance of the remark, but she got the impression he was willing to try, if she was willing to make the effort.

 _Huh_.

* * *

"Again?"

"Yes, well, you can thank the ice cream parlor for that; they had a buy-one, get-one-free promotion!"

Another warm, sunny day in Dream Land. Susie handed Meta Knight the chocolate ice cream cone before taking up her spot in the grass behind him once again. "That, and... I guess I just got a little excited I had something in common with someone around here."

"Ice cream?"

"Mm-hm." Susie replied, nonchalantly tucking in to hers, a classy combination of strawberry and vanilla.

"Everyone likes ice cream."

"Pinky gave me the impression you liked ice cream considerably _more_ than most," Susie giggled.

Meta Knight had no reply prepared for that—mostly because it was true—so they enjoyed their frozen treats in silence. Though this time, it was he who eventually broke it.

"I saw everything," he said. "When I was under the Mother Computer's control. About the Company. Your father. The _accident_."

Susie seemed to curl in on herself at the mention of Star Dream. "You must be fun at parties," she chuckled weakly.

"I'm sorry we couldn't save him."

"...He was a fool," Susie muttered.

"Yes. He was."

* * *

"Dream Land really is beautiful..."

"Mm."

More silence.

Susie sighed. "I just can't help but think the people here aren't utilizing their time efficiently. Everywhere I look, they're sleeping the day away... how can anyone possibly stand to do that? There's always work to be done... always things to improve!"

Meta Knight furrowed his brow, surprised and a little concerned by how ironically alike their principles were—at least when it came to the circumstances of Dream Land. But was it her place to have such an opinion? Not much less than it was his place, he supposed.

"I... used to think the same way," he said, finally adding something of substance to this afternoon's potluck conversation and piquing Susie's interest. "I once wanted to put an end to this way of life. This peaceful, very way of life."

Meta Knight stared at his ice cream as it slowly began to melt. He absentmindedly licked a stripe up the side before it had the chance to drip down his thumb. "But in time, I came to realize that there is no crime, no farce, _because_ the people are peaceful... and my selfishness was the only distress in Dream Land that day."

He lowered his cone and gazed ahead solemnly. "And yet," he continued, speaking a little quieter, "there is a dark part of me that sometimes entertains the thought of my triumph. What if I had succeeded? What would I have changed, and how?" He clenched his fist. "How many lives would I have afflicted to get my way...?"

Whilst it seemed as though Meta Knight was simply lamenting out loud, Susie listened earnestly.

"Are you trying to use reverse psychology on me?"

Meta Knight blinked, genuinely not making a connection. "What? No, I—"

"You're so dramatic!" She laughed. It was an empty, chiming sound that caused Meta Knight's heart to skip a beat, almost convincing him that Susie was just a lonely girl, desperate for a friend. "Please, you're nothing like me. When I invaded this planet, I didn't care _what_ happened to the people... not at all. Not enough to stop me from achieving my goal, anyway."

Susie turned her gaze from her ice cream cone to the cloudless, blue sky. "Stupid goal that turned out to be," she sighed wistfully. Susie didn't have to elaborate to allude to the catastrophe that was Star Dream's existence and President Haltmann's unsavory fate.

It was then that Meta Knight quirked a rare, genuine grin. "Stars. When did this become a self-pity party?"

Susie hummed complacently, and toyed with her bangs. "Takes two to tango?"

Meta Knight chuckled under his breath. "Olé."

Familiar silence fell upon the pair, thought it felt more comfortable than it ever had been.

"Hey," Susie prompted after a while. She turned her head to the side in hopes of catching Meta Knight's attention. "It's not a bad ambition," she said. To her gratification, Meta Knight shifted so that he could see her in the corner of his eye.

"You just didn't want to see anyone be hurt," she continued, satisfied enough with their current level of eye contact. "By their own negligence."

There was melancholy in the way Susie had said _negligence_ , and Meta Knight knew she was thinking about her late father. Incidentally, he found her impartial bluntness to be a respectable trait. "I wish I was brave enough to have said that when it mattered."

"Oh, you're _plenty_ brave enough, Mr. Knight. You're just _compassionate_. Blech," she winked jokingly.

And Meta Knight felt a great weight being lifted off his shoulders.

* * *

"Sue!"

"I got this!"

Susie swiftly activated her Business Suit and took down the onslaught of Jammerjabs that Meta Knight had cleared the way to, fighting back to back as if they had been comrades for far longer than a few days.

"Wow," Bandana Dee squeaked as he watched the unlikely duo exchange a quick high-five. "Just... _wow_!"

"I told ya," Kirby grinned, feeling very proud of themself indeed. "Ice cream is the answer to _everything_!"

**Author's Note:**

> Because like Kirby, I, too, am soft, nonbinary, and believe in the power of ~~ice cream~~ friendship. :')


End file.
